


How Badly Do You Want It?

by IJM



Category: General Hospital
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-10-03
Packaged: 2020-10-14 22:43:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20608550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IJM/pseuds/IJM
Summary: Is anything left of Franco after this science experiment gone wrong? Who will fight whom and who will fight for whom?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not for Profit. No claim of ownership of characters.
> 
> FYI: Kim is barely in this story. This is about Elizabeth and Franco. 
> 
> I told myself I wasn't going to waste time writing anymore. These characters pulled me back in.

There were dark waves pulling him downward, back to the oblivion where he existed by a thin strand of memory. The pull for him to disappear was great. Physically, he was almost destroyed. Something that felt like the sting of a shock was all he knew for an unidentifiable length of time. It was as if he were being dragged from one disjointed place in time to another and he focused all his strength on just surviving the tumult.

There was a consistent voice that he didn’t quite recognize. It sounded somewhat like the one he heard when he spoke, but the words were formed differently. The tone was different. The message was not his.

He heard the familiar voice of a young man who was upset. He had heard it before. He had heard it recently. It was the last thing he had heard before disappearing and then coming back deep within the darkened waves. That voice meant something to him, but he had no idea what or why.

The other voice was much more present. _Always_ present. It drowned out any chance he had to connect. If only he could connect to someone or something…

He heard that oddly familiar voice and it was speaking about him. “Franco Baldwin is gone for good. I’m Drew Cain now. No one wants Franco back with his stupid name or his bad artwork. No one wants a serial killer over a decorated Navy Seal. If I can’t be in my own body, I can at least improve this one.”

“You don’t get to make that decision.”

The woman’s voice was angry, but she was angry at Drew Cain. She was angry _o__n his behalf_. She wanted _him_ back.

“There’s no decision to be made. What’s done is done. You can’t undo it and you can’t subject me to some mad scientist who doesn’t know what the hell they’re doing.”

“We’ll see about that.”

She was furious. He knew that ire and had been on the receiving end a few times, but never like this.

He wanted to call out to her, but he had no power over what was being said or done. He thought her name, over and over. “Elizabeth,” he repeated, calling her from nowhere.

_Oh, shut up._

There was that voice again, but it was turned inward. It was speaking directly to him, not to anyone else.

_You are wasting your energy trying to fight. You’re so close to being gone that no one will ever know any bit of you is left. I’m stronger than you, better than you, and I deserve to have a life. You have done nothing—nothing to warrant a chance at happiness. I have my chance now and I’m going to take it._

Franco heard the hostile message and the truth within it. His life _was_ a mess; he had been a miserable waste of human being. Now that human space belonged to someone else.

_Only, it didn’t_. He wanted his space back. The battle required more than he had to give. He retreated to think. If he could think, he could be. Descartes had essentially said that. Franco realized he had to _think_ himself back into existence and he had to be clandestine about it to overthrow the parasite that was Drew Cain. He had never shied away from an intellectual battle before. _Game on, Drew Cain. _

There were so many things that Franco could not initially recall about his own life: names, faces, and places. But he remembered the name _Elizabeth_. He felt a great love for Elizabeth, and he wanted to get back to her.

He noticed the distressed young man again. He heard him more clearly—he was yelling at Drew. He said Franco saved him. He said his mom and brothers needed Franco back. Drew was moved by the young man momentarily and it gave Franco a firmer grip into his own space. He wanted the young man to come back. He wanted the young man to shake up Drew some more because he had managed to put a crack Drew’s hold over him.

Franco was slowly gaining a foothold for himself. But Drew Cain was the stronger force at the moment, so Franco had to be surreptitious. He wouldn’t make himself known to Drew until he could make himself known to Elizabeth.

Franco had one advantage over Drew. He knew who Drew was. Drew did not realize who Franco was. The part of Franco that held on paid close attention to what Drew thought and said. He could hear Drew as if they both occupied the same space. He supposed they did. He would have to fight Drew to get back to himself.

Franco paid attention to every encounter Drew had with other people. He had so much he had to relearn and remember for himself. 

Franco began his battle with Drew by influencing him with some memories that the two of them shared. An image of their mother, Betsy Frank was a good place to start. She was on the floor with the two boys, showing them pictures in a book and singing a song that told the story.

Drew had a flash of memory of the mother he had briefly known and the brother that had almost faded from his memories. He had no idea why the dark-haired lady he once called _Mama_ crept into his thoughts. He rarely gave any thought to her or the boy that he had once loved so much, but then hated just as passionately. _Bobby_. He hated Bobby and always would.

As days went by, Drew was served with notification of a competency hearing and he was infuriated. He hired a lawyer to fight his case. The sooner he got out of this town, the better.

Franco understood that Drew was making plans to vacate his life and start a new one somewhere else. He inundated Drew with memories of Betsy, and even occasionally let him see a glimpse of Uncle Jim, though he kept all the horrible things about Uncle Jim to himself. He hadn’t gone to so much effort to protect Andy just to undo all of that now. The Drew he knew in his own life had no memories of the evil that Jim Harvey had inflicted, and Franco didn’t want to change that. Still, Franco intended to crack Drew’s control and get his mind and body back. Maybe the real Drew Cain could benefit from the memories or a different kind of procedure. Whatever was to happen eventually, Franco knew that two Drew Cains could not walk the earth, each claiming to be the only one.

Aware that Drew was preparing for a hearing, Franco was counting on his father Scotty to help him defeat Drew’s hold. He knew Scotty would be working with Elizabeth and it made him happy to think about it—his dad and his wife working together because they loved him. _That_ was something undeniably worth getting back to.

“You’re not going to win.”

Franco heard the young man’s voice again. He was angry and confrontational with Drew.

“Cameron, let’s go. It’s not worth it to even talk to him. He’s not Franco.”

Franco wasn’t sure who the female was, but he was relieved to hear Cameron’s name. No matter how much he tried to remember, he had been unable. With Cameron’s name came the memory of two more names that meant the world to him—Jake and Aiden. He wasn’t sure if his current state of being had a heart, but his soul certainly ached for the wife and sons he had lost. He wanted so badly to tell Cameron he was fighting to get back to them. He had a promise to keep.

“You need to prepare yourself because I will win this battle and then I’m getting the hell out of this one-horse town.”

Franco crawled through the shadows and opened himself to what Drew was seeing. Drew was in Kelly’s. Cameron and the girl sat with him, uninvited.

Franco was ecstatic that Cameron was right there and that he was confronting Drew. Drew was engaging in a verbal sparring match with the kid. What Drew didn’t realize was that Franco had taken control of his hands—his _own_ hands, not Drew’s. Cameron was busy arguing. Franco took a crayon that was on the table for kids to use to color their menus. He also slid a napkin closer with his left hand. He quickly wrote on the napkin. _Help me. I’m trapped._ Cameron was keeping Drew occupied so he pushed the napkin to the girl. He watched her react. Her brown eyes expressed shock when she saw the message. She quickly folded the napkin and stuck it in her purse or a pocket. Franco didn’t know which, but he knew she saw it and her expression said she knew what it meant. She was an ally. 

“Cam, we need to go,” the girl said. “Trust me. We need to go.”

“I’ll go,” Drew said, throwing forty dollars onto the table. It was far more than his meal would have cost. “Get yourselves a couple of milkshakes or whatever.”

Franco did not remember the girl’s name, but she had been with Cameron before. He heard Cameron exclaim, “We have to show Mom!” before Drew Cain guided his body away from the boy that he wanted to hug and assure that everything would be okay.

Franco felt a true sense of hope for the first time. He had gotten a message to the girl and she had told Cameron who would tell Elizabeth. He hoped Scotty could use it in court. In the meantime, he would continue to influence Drew’s memories. He thought of the real Drew Cain, the man who had been his brother, disappeared, and then become his brother again. He started assaulting the phantom Drew Cain with memories of the adult Drew that he knew—their banter, their entrapment in what would have been a concrete tomb if they hadn’t swum out through the sewer, them standing together on the dock talking and looking out at the harbor. He showed him Drew facilitating his wedding to Elizabeth. He let this Drew see himself commiserating with the real Drew over the losses of Oscar and Kiki. The parasite Drew felt the pang of knowing that a parent should not outlive a child.

Every chance he got, Franco thought of better memories of his life with Drew. He assumed it would be strangely unnerving for the Drew that only existed in memories to experience memories of the body he was inhabiting interacting with the body that had once been his.

Franco’s memories were accomplishing the goal of making Drew appear unhinged and angry. When he arrived in a closed courtroom for his competency hearing, Drew was on edge. He had his supporters, namely Kim Nero, Andre Maddox, and Monica Quartermaine.

Franco had supporters too—Elizabeth Baldwin, Scott Baldwin, Liesl Obrecht, Hayden Barnes, and Cameron Webber who was accompanied by not one, but two girls. To Franco’s utter shock Jason Morgan was with the group that would be arguing for Franco Baldwin’s brain to be declared incompetent. Maybe he was just there for support like the two girls with Cameron. Whatever the case, Franco was grateful that Elizabeth wasn’t alone, even if support came from the least expected sources.

A competency hearing wasn’t exactly like a trial. Drew’s lawyer put his witnesses on the stand and let them state their case.

First, Kim Nero spoke. “He fully believes he is Drew. He has memories that only the real Drew Cain would have. As far as I can tell, the brain in that body belongs to Drew Cain.”

Monica Quartermaine spoke on Drew’s behalf. “Drew is the man who is there. This person is nothing like Franco Baldwin. This Drew can have a good life if he’s allowed to live it. Franco is gone. We shouldn’t have to lose Drew forever too.”

Andre Maddox spoke next.

His desertion had left Elizabeth livid. She did not think it was coincidental that Andre decided the procedure was too dangerous after Monica managed to get him reinstated at General Hospital. She wanted to have them both suspended, but Scotty told her, “Cool your jets. One battle at a time.” He was right, of course. She would focus on getting her husband back. Then she would destroy everyone who had stood in her way.

Andre explained how the memory mapping procedure had been developed and how it had been successfully completed on the real Drew Cain, turning him into Jason Morgan in such a believable fashion that his wife, mother, and best friends believed he was Jason. “There has never been a procedure to undo the memory mapping to attempt to recreate the host brain. I believe it would be dangerous, possibly deadly. As a doctor, I would be acting irresponsibly to attempt this.”

Scotty countered Drew’s lawyer first by putting Liesl Obrecht on the stand. “To say that performing a procedure to undo what was done to Franco is _irresponsible_ is only a sign of cowardice and ineptitude. Of course, the mind of Franco Baldwin can be retrieved. His mind was not a blank slate cleared of all his own memories and experiences and feelings and talents. The intensity of the electroshock treatments altered some neural pathways that allowed these memories that belong to Drew Cain to be implanted. The composition of the drug administered prior to the procedure included ketamine which is commonly given to patients to induce amnesia. While there is no baseline for Franco Baldwin’s memories, the key is in altering the neural pathways back to the way they were previously. Mr. Baldwin’s medical history is significant for having a brain tumor. That is fortuitous in this situation. Because he has had a tumor and brain surgery, there are years’ worth of scans and follow-up scans of his brain to monitor his health for recurrent cancers. His most recent MRI was conducted in February of this year. I have a plethora of information to work with.”

“And you think you can bring Franco back to us?” Scotty asked.

“Of course, I can,” Liesl said with robust confidence. “I have the brilliance and the fortitude to do what is best for the patient—and that is return him to the life he created for himself with his wife and children. Franco is my best friend and I know that is what he would want. He is madly in love with Nurse Webber. Pardon my mistake… Nurse Baldwin. I am as certain of that as I am that Andre Maddox is a coward who fled the country when his participation in this whole memory mapping debacle was exposed.”

Liesl stepped down and Scotty called the girl that was in the diner. Her name was Trina Robinson. She recalled the confrontation between Cameron and Drew and explained that while Drew was arguing with Cameron, he had written on the napkin and handed it to her. “Help me. I’m trapped,” Trina read aloud before handing the napkin back to the judge. 

Scotty allowed Trina to step down. “Your honor, I can personally attest that the handwriting on that napkin belongs to my son, Franco Baldwin. As you can see, his handwriting is rather unique. I have provided other documents that he has written and certification from a handwriting expert that this was written by the same person who wrote the other documents. The handwriting analyst can be called to speak if the documentation alone is insufficient.”

Cameron was emotional when he spoke about his stepfather. “I was kidnapped at gunpoint by Henry Archer, or Shiloh, the cult leader. Franco found me in that warehouse after Shiloh and Dr. Cabot had strapped me to a chair and drugged me. They were going to do the memory mapping procedure on me, but Franco begged them to use him instead. Shiloh was in such a hurry that he wouldn’t even agree to let me go at first. Franco had to convince him that the procedure was more likely to work on him than me.” Cameron took a deep breath. “I watched them drug Franco and… take him away from us. But the last thing he said to me was to tell my mom that he would be back. He promised. I know he wants to come back. He doesn’t want to be Drew Cain. He wants to be married to my mom and he wants to be a dad to me and my brothers because that’s the kind of person he is. He takes care of people he loves. So, we’re trying to take care of him too.”

Elizabeth squeezed Cameron’s shoulder when he sat down next to her. His statement was powerful. Then it was her turn to speak.

“I am Franco Baldwin’s wife. I have his medical power of attorney and I am the person who has his best interest in mind. No one, absolutely no one in this room knows Franco the way I do. The people arguing that he is now Drew don’t care about Franco or his life. They want the ghost of Drew for their own selfish reasons. Franco told my son Cameron that he would come back to us and I believe that. I believe with all my heart that Franco wants to be with me and our boys. He would never abandon us. The note he gave to Trina clearly shows that he is asking us to save him—to save _Franco Baldwin_. Drew Cain is a real person in a different body. There is no justification for his memories to overtake my husband’s body and put him in situations that may be dangerous. I will protect Franco at all costs. The memories of someone else should not dictate what happens to the body of the man I love, especially when Franco is reaching out for help.”

After Elizabeth returned to her seat, the judge turned to Franco. “I would like to hear from you, Mr. Baldwin.”

“It’s Mr. Cain,” Drew corrected her. His lawyer let him speak for himself. “I have no memory of Franco Baldwin’s life. I don’t intend to hurt his wife or his children. I can either live in this body as Drew Cain or that crazy doctor will turn me into a vegetable. I’m not willing to take that risk. Franco Baldwin does not exist anymore.”

Scotty took advantage of his opportunity to question Drew. “If Franco Baldwin does not exist, how do you explain this?” He took the napkin that Trina had provided and placed it in front of Drew.

“It’s obviously fake.”

“We have an expert who says otherwise.”

Drew sighed.

Franco knew it was time to fight while Drew was searching for an argument. “Save me, Elizabeth! Pops, I’m still here!” His voice was frantic and desperate, nothing like the steely reserve of Drew’s speech patterns.

“Franco!” Scott exclaimed, genuinely shocked. “Your Honor, you heard him. That was my son. He is still there.” An electric current of hope, shock, and dismay (for some) filled the courtroom.

“I told you to shut up!” Drew snapped. He spoke out loud even though he was arguing with himself. “Don’t try that again.”

“You told Franco to shut up?” Scotty turned to Drew. “When did that happen? How often have to told Franco to shut up?”

“He doesn’t deserve to live!” Drew exclaimed.

“The real Drew Cain considered Franco Baldwin to be his brother.” Scotty told him. “The real Drew Cain would save Franco’s life—and has. Just as Franco has … _protected_ Drew.”

“No one ever explained that to me. I don’t know how I could have ever been involved in a friendship with someone like Franco.”

“You spent the first 4 to 4 ½ years of your lives together. You were raised as twins. Franco was called Bobby at the time and you were called Andy. Do you not have any memory of that?”

Drew crossed his arms, his expression dark. “Bobby?” he asked. “Franco is _Bobby_?”

“Yes!” Scotty exclaimed, sure that this information would change everything.

“Then I’m even _happier_ to take over his life. He’s the reason I grew up without a family.”

“What?” Elizabeth asked aloud, before realizing she had spoken and covering her mouth with her hand.

“I don’t know how you reached that conclusion, but you are wrong.” Scotty told Drew. His voice was calm. He had to be rational and play the part of the lawyer, not just the father.

“Bobby was their favorite. He got to have a mom and a dad. Uncle Jim told me they could only keep one of us and he picked Bobby. He always liked Bobby more than me.”

“Bobby did _not_ have a dad and your _Uncle Jim_ was a liar and… worse.”

“Bobby was greedy. He wanted all the toys.” Drew sounded downright petulant.

Scotty panicked on the inside and kept his composure on the outside. “Your Honor, we need to request a recess. I need to explain some things to Drew that don’t need to be said with an audience.”

“I object,” Drew’s lawyer said.

“You don’t understand,” Scotty told the opposing counsel. “This is very sensitive information.”

“You want to overwhelm my client with some undocumented story. I understand you are willing to do anything to get what you want from this case.”

“I protected you!” Franco practically yelled. It startled everyone in the courtroom that the man claiming to be Drew had such an outburst. “I kept you safe. You’re the lucky one because you didn’t have to stay in that hellhole.”

“I grew up with 50 other kids because Uncle Jim liked you better.” Drew countered.

“He was a monster! An evil monster.” Tears were falling from Franco’s eyes. “You got to escape. _Years, Andy_. I had to endure that man for years.”

“Franco, stop.” Scotty told his son. The switching between the personalities was enough to convince anyone present that Drew did not have full possession of Franco’s mind or body. “Bobby,” he addressed his son by his given name, realizing he might be in that mindset. “Bobby, you don’t have to say anything else. It’s okay. We’re going to protect you.”

Elizabeth didn’t know if she could be held in contempt at a competency hearing and she didn’t care. She practically jumped over the barrier and ran to her husband. “I knew you were still there. I knew you wouldn’t leave us for good. It’s okay. We’re going to make you better. I promise.” She held onto Franco, hugging him tightly.

Drew pushed her away. “I am not Franco.”

“_Oh, give it up_,” Scotty told the parasitic personality. He turned to the judge. “Your Honor?”

“Clearly, this man is not mentally competent to make decisions at this time. I grant Elizabeth Baldwin full legal and medical guardianship of her husband, Franco Baldwin. Mrs. Baldwin, I hope this science experiment gone wrong can be corrected.”

“Thank you,” Elizabeth said, wiping tears away. She was overwhelmed with relief. Franco was still there, and he wanted to come back. He fought Drew with enough strength and at the right time to get her the guardianship she needed. She knew everything would be okay someday.

The judge continued to speak. “Dr. Obrecht, I look forward to a fascinating journal article being added to the medical archives once your work is complete. When humans decide to play God, we get can into dangerous territory in both medicine and law. Your work and your results, whatever they may be, should be documented for future use to discourage other medical professionals from using such poor judgment in altering a human being’s mind.”

Liesl nodded with a smile. Of course, she would publish an article—with Franco’s blessing, she was sure. She was going to get her friend back to his family. It was only a matter of time. Franco had fought hard enough to allow Elizabeth to get guardianship which would allow her to repair the damage inflicted by Dr. Cabot. She was nothing if not loyal and Franco's friendship with her would be rewarded. 


	2. Chapter 2

The days after the competency hearing had been extremely difficult for Elizabeth. Drew/Franco was confined to the hospital in a secure psychiatric wing meant for short term care. With his consistent insistence that he was not crazy, he fit right in with the other patients. His stay, however, was not short-term.

Elizabeth visited her husband as often as possible. Sometimes Franco would break through Drew’s hold and when he did, he was relieved and grateful. Elizabeth had to hold on to those moments when she knew Franco was there, willing to fight. “Don’t give up on me,” he whispered to her. She clung to faith that he would get back to her, but the procedure had made Drew the dominant personality. 

When Drew/Franco was first admitted, the decision to restrain him had been made. His medical team determined that the quarrelling between the two personalities could present a danger of one personality hurting the other, and thus the body of the host. It was a case like nothing any the psychiatrists on staff had seen before. The unprecedented memory implant crossed ethical and legal lines.

There was the even a question of whether this was a psychological problem or a physical problem. The split was caused by physical trauma to the brain itself rather than by a response of the brain as was seen in dissociative disorders.

Being the most familiar with Franco’s psyche, Kevin Collins consulted closely with Liesl Obrecht as the two of them poured over MRI scans pre- and post-memory transfer. They also pulled MRI’s from Drew’s time in the hospital as _Jake Doe_ to compare what they could of his scans to Franco’s scans from February and recent post-memory mapping scans. Even more helpful, they had tracked down an MRI Drew had while he was in the Navy after being slightly injured in an explosion.

“We have a lot to work with, all things considered,” Liesl assured Elizabeth and Scotty. “It’s fortunate for our purposes that both men have suffered brain injuries.”

Elizabeth noticed Scotty looking at Liesl with something more than gratitude. He seemed to be quite impressed with her as a doctor and a woman. “You and Liesl should have dinner with me and Franco when we get Franco back,” Elizabeth suggested to him after Liesl went back to her work.

“Do you really think we’re going to get Franco back?” Scotty asked. He had done all he could where the legal system was concerned, but he felt completely useless in the hospital setting.

“He _wants_ to come back,” Elizabeth reminded her father-in-law. “He’s fighting just like we are. And we know that because you broke Drew’s defenses. You made this possible.”

Scotty nodded, almost bashful to accept the compliment. Normally he would have taken any bit of praise with the belief that it was well deserved. This was different. This wasn’t something he needed accolades for. He just needed it to work so he could have his son back in his life.

Liesl observed some of the sessions that Franco/Drew had with Kevin to get an idea of the extent of Drew’s control over Franco. He was certainly the stronger personality for the time being, but Franco was not obliterated as Dr. Maddox had asserted.

Liesl had been privy to a little information about Franco’s past as Bobby with Jim Harvey. Franco confided in her that the man had hurt him. She was momentarily distraught when it was revealed within a session with Kevin that the abuse started when he was only three years old. That was barely older than her grandson James. Her sadness quickly turned to anger over the injustice.

She focused her rage at the ghost of Jim Harvey into the work at hand—restoring the memories that made Franco who he was whether they were good or bad. He had lost too much of his life to outside forces already.

Kevin attempted to explain to Drew what had happened between Bobby and Andy in reality. Drew’s perception was that Bobby was favored and he was thrown away by Betsy and Jim. Later he learned about the Quartermaines and had assumed they threw him away too. He had a chip on his shoulder, believing he deserved better. He was a decent student and a great athlete. He was offered a chance to go to college with a partial athletic scholarship, but there was no way to make up the full cost of tuition and living expenses with a part time job. His athletic skills made him a good fit for the military, so he had gone that route and done well in the service until he went AWOL.

Drew was bitter. He resented that his twin Jason had opportunities that he had not. He resented that Bobby had—he assumed—grown up with a mom and a dad. He believed he could have had a better life in place of either Jason or Bobby. This Drew was very selfish, having learned to take care of himself and trust no one while he was in the group home. His coping skills encompassed defensive posturing and self-preservation most of his life. He shut down a bit when confronted with the truth.

Since he was currently housed in Franco’s mind, Kevin attempted to get Franco to show Drew his memories of Jim, at least enough to let him know that he was wrong about Andy’s beloved Uncle Jim being a great dad. Franco, when he was present, refused. He would not manipulate Andy that way.

However, when the body slept, the mind would wander through time and dream about the past. Drew was experiencing memories that were not his own. He was repulsed by things Uncle Jim had said and done. He was angry that Bobby had never asked him for help. He had never imagined the weight of responsibility that Bobby felt was solely on his shoulders—protecting both Andy and Betsy from a sadistic bastard. Even more than anger, Drew felt sad when he considered the situation. If he had known… if Bobby had not been too terrified to tell his secrets… if Betsy had not been blind to Jim’s true nature… if Andy had not been too jealous to realize the truth… _if… if… if…_There were so many _ifs_, but only one ultimate result: their brotherhood was decimated and they both grew up in different versions of misery.

In the meantime, Liesl tried several combinations of medications and shock patterns. She was going through white mice like the mad scientist that she had been accused of being. When Elizabeth was unable to visit with Franco, she assisted Liesl in her work. 

“I’m impressed, Nurse Baldwin,” Liesl told her. “I would have thought you would be more squeamish about using animal test subjects.”

“I’m more concerned about my husband than I am about a bunch of rodents,” Elizabeth told her. “I understand you can’t experiment on humans or bodies that have been donated for science. You need to see and measure results on working brains. Besides, you are sedating the mice before shocking them.”

“Of course, I am. I will have to sedate Franco as well. I’m not a barbarian.”

“I appreciate everything you are doing,” Elizabeth told her. “I’m so grateful. You’re far more confident that this can be done than Dr. Maddox was even before Monica got him to change his mind. Somehow your confidence makes me believe it will work.”

“It has too,” Liesl told her as she sedated another mouse. “There are no other acceptable alternatives.”

Elizabeth nodded, holding back the urge to hug Liesl Obrecht—a woman who had shot her, berated her, and expressed disapproval of Franco’s choice to marry her. “You know, when Franco is back, you and Scotty should have a celebratory dinner with us. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Liesl asked in her sharp tone.

“Franco told me that you’re lonely. Scotty is lonely too. I think he wanted to set you and his dad up on a date before everything went to hell.”

Liesl arched an eyebrow. Coming from Elizabeth, she questioned the motive for a setup with Scotty. Knowing Franco had thought of it first made her realize there could be some potential. She knew Franco would not subject her or his father to what he thought would be a bad date. He obviously saw some sort of compatibility between them. “Well, we should fix Franco’s mind first. Then worry about dinner.”

Elizabeth smiled. Franco would be pleased that she had worked a little matchmaking into this absurd situation.

Eventually, Liesl had a fully developed protocol, or at least as close to fully developed as it could be without a human test subject. She called in Elizabeth, Scotty, and Kevin to discuss it.

Scotty kept running his hands through his hair, obviously nervous. Kevin was completely captivated by Liesl’s research. He nodded so often he could have been doing an impression of a bobble-headed doll. Kevin was an intellectual, but Liesl floored him with her vast understanding of the complex systems to treat to potentially undo the damage to Franco’s brain. Elizabeth was resigned. She had helped develop the protocol. She saw first-hand the painstaking effort that Liesl put into her work. She was convinced that Liesl wanted Franco back almost as much as she did. Knowing that made her grateful that Andre Maddox had abandoned the project to be reinstated. He wasn’t concerned about Franco. He was concerned about himself. He was only trying to earn good graces by undoing the damage he had caused. He gave up good graces for a lucrative position at the hospital.

“It’s your fault if I die,” was the last thing that came out of Franco’s mouth before Liesl put him into an induced coma. He was looking at Elizabeth when he said it though, not Liesl.

Elizabeth heard the words over and over in her mind while Liesl worked with her husband. Liesl’s intent was to target specific areas of each lobe over an extended period. She would watch and wait for healing. The coma would keep the body and brain in a state of rest that would aid in recovery.

Dr. Cabot’s work and been hasty. Liesl’s work was deliberate and labored. She kept the contrast MRI going so frequently that the MRI technicians had started delaying non-emergency cases. As far as they could tell, the newly reinstated Dr. Liesl Obrecht was the one running the hospital.

What they didn’t know yet was that once her focused work on saving Franco was complete, Scotty Baldwin was going to hit Monica Quartermaine, Andre Maddox, and Kim Nero with malpractice suits that would oust each one of them from General Hospital. Liesl very likely _would be_ running the place again soon enough.

“I don’t like waiting,” Elizabeth told Scotty. They were sitting in Franco’s room. He had been in a coma for more than a week. While she trusted that Liesl was doing her best work, none of them knew for sure that her procedures would be successful. They could even be detrimental.

“I’ve never been patient either,” Scotty admitted. He became serious. “Elizabeth, just in case this doesn’t work, I want you to know something…”

“It’s going to work,” Elizabeth interrupted him, not willing to consider the alternative.

Scotty changed his phrasing, “In that case, I still want you to know something.” He reached out and took her hand. “You’re the one person in this world that has brought my son happiness. You are the best woman for him. You saw his potential but wouldn’t put up with his BS either. You helped him unpack a lot of baggage and helped him become the person that he was probably meant to be.”

Elizabeth held back tears. “He’s going to be okay.”

“Still, I want you to know. I wasn’t a good father. I didn’t know he existed. I didn’t protect him or provide a home for him.”

“But you stepped up when you did learn he was your son. Franco knows that. He appreciates it. He wants your approval so badly. He wants you to be proud of him. He regrets tarnishing your family image.”

Scotty, who wasn’t much on public affection, took his hand away with a scoff. “He’s not the only one to ever tarnish the Baldwin name. And, to be fair, he was in his one-name phase when he was at his worst. So, I won’t hold that against him.”

Their conversation was interrupted when Liesl and Kevin entered the room. Kevin was holding a laptop computer that he used to access side-by-side images of brain scans.

With the colors of the contrast images, Elizabeth and Scotty could both see differences. “Are those both Franco?” Elizabeth asked.

“They are,” Liesl announced proudly. She nodded at Kevin, who changed the screen so that a 3rd image took the place of the first one.

“So, what’s that?” Scotty asked.

“This is Franco’s February scan vs. one from this morning.” Liesl answered.

“I don’t really have a clue what I’m looking at, but they look pretty similar, right? Does that mean whatever you’re doing is working?”

“That’s my hope,” Liesl said. “The complication may be that Franco has no memory of anything after early February of this year.”

“We can deal with losing a few months better than losing Franco altogether!” Elizabeth exclaimed, truly excited by what Liesl was showing her. “When are you going to wake him up? When will we know?”

“I know we all would like to wake him up right now,” Liesl said. “However, I want to give him at least another twelve hours to heal.”

Elizabeth threw her arms around Liesl, startling the doctor. “That’s so much closer than we were. You’re brilliant!”

Liesl pulled away from the hug. “Yes. I know. Whether this works or not is yet to be determined. However, I thought having twelve hours’ notice would allow you to… freshen up. Maybe put on a pretty dress so when your husband opens his eyes, the first thing he sees will be you looking like a well-rested beauty.”

“In other words, you two need to go home, get some rest, and hope and pray that whatever happens tomorrow puts the world right again.” Kevin told them. He was also enthusiastic and more excited about the possibilities than a doctor should allow himself to show.

“Then, here’s to tomorrow.” Scotty told them. “And to miracles.”

“And to miracles,” Elizabeth repeated.   



	3. Chapter 3

“You’re here awfully early,” Bobbie Spencer said to her old flame Scotty Baldwin. She had just gotten to Franco’s room while making early morning rounds.

“Liesl told me that she was reducing the coma-inducing stuff and Franco could come around any time. She had a goal, but it’s guesswork to some extent, the whole procedure has been based on her impressive guesses. I didn’t want him to be alone if he woke up earlier than planned.” Scotty’s worry was evident in his expression. “I mean, what if it didn’t work and he still doesn’t know who he is? Or what if he does know who he is and there’s no one here that cares about him?”

“I’m surprised Elizabeth even went home,” Bobbie busied herself with her job. She had seen Scotty struggle with his children through the years. They all had brought a unique blend of chaos into his life. Lee Baldwin was probably in heaven getting a good laugh at Scotty’s paternal challenges. 

“She’s exhausted.” Scotty said of Elizabeth. “Liesl told her to get some rest and make herself pretty for when her husband wakes up.”

Bobbie cocked one eyebrow. That sounded compassionate, so unlike the Dr. Obrecht she knew. It had not gone unnoticed how much effort Dr. Obrecht had put into saving her friend. “His vitals are stronger. He’s coming around. Could be soon… or later.”

“Should I call Elizabeth?”

“You’re here. I’m sure she’ll be here soon too.”

They talked a few minutes. The hospital was very quiet this early in the morning and there were always fewer patients at night since so many procedures were done through outpatient services.

A flicker of movement caught Scotty’s eye. He pointed it out to Bobbie.

“Let me talk to him,” Bobbie said. “I need to do a mental status exam as soon as he wakes up.” She poured a cup of water and elevated the head of his bed, anticipating that he would need to drink before he could speak.

As his surroundings became clearer, he coughed and reached for his throat. His mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

“I have some water for you,” Bobbie told him. She held the cup for him, and he drained it through a straw.

“Thank you.” His voice was raspy. He seemed drowsy, not fully awake yet.

Scotty sent Elizabeth a text and saw that she had read it. She responded, _On my way_. He doubted she had gotten much rest the night before.

“Can you tell me your name?” Bobbie asked. “Where am I?” Franco responded, taking in his surroundings. “Is this a hospital?”

“Yes, it is.” Bobbie answered.

“Are you a nurse?” His eyelids were heavy, and he had a hard time keeping himself awake.

“Yes, I am,” Bobbie affirmed. Scott frowned, concerned that his son didn’t recognize a woman he had worked with for years and who had been his father’s date for the wedding reception. A stern look from Bobbie told him to stay back and not act like he was upset.

“What’s your name?” Franco asked.

“Bobbie Spencer.”

He laughed. “That’s funny.”

“It is?”

“You’re a _girl_ named Bobbie. That’s my name too. Bobby.”

“What’s your last name?”

“Frank.”

“Can you tell me what year it is?”

He shrugged. “I… can’t remember.”

“Who’s the President of the United States?”

Franco thought about it for a moment. “Um…. he was on TV.” He closed his eyes, searching for a face or name.

Bobbie nodded. “Do you remember his name?”

“It’s, um… Ronald Reagan?” Franco asked her. “Is that right?”

“Bobby, I’m going to get one of the doctors to come talk to you, okay.”

“Am I in trouble?”

“No. Not at all. But I’m a nurse, and I have to tell a doctor when a patient wakes up from a coma. It’s a rule I need to follow. Do you understand?”

He nodded. He closed his eyes and gave into the drowsiness.

“Don’t upset him,” Bobbie whispered to Scotty as she walked past him. “I’ll get whoever is on call and call in Obrecht.”

“Call Kevin too.”

That request told Bobbie that his son’s welfare was truly Scotty’s priority. Even when they could be civil, Scotty and Kevin were not friends and never would be. “I’ll get him.”

Scotty did not approach his son. He had no idea what to say to him or how to deal with the situation. He was content to let him drift back to sleep for a few more minutes. 

When he heard Elizabeth’s footsteps approaching the room, he darted out and stopped her from going inside. “There’s a hiccup.”

Elizabeth’s happy countenance fell. “A hiccup? What kind of hiccup?”

Scotty paused for a moment because Kevin was approaching with Bobbie. He waited until the doctor could hear him. “He seems to think it’s sometime in the 1980’s.”

“What?” Elizabeth asked. Her heart sank. “No. Liesl said he might lose _a few months_.”

“She’s on her way,” Kevin assured Elizabeth. “At least he doesn’t think he’s Drew, right?”

“Yeah, but I can’t walk in there and tell him I’m his wife if he thinks he’s a kid.”

“We’ll deal with it,” Kevin opened the door and the others followed him.

“Bobby, I’m Dr. Collins. I want to talk to you a few minutes. Is that all right?”

He nodded.

“Do you know why you’re in the hospital?”

“No.”

“What is the last thing you remember before waking up?”

He felt overwhelmed. “Why are there so many people here? Am I in trouble?”

“You’re not in trouble. We’re trying to help you.”

He squeezed his eyes shut.

“Bobby?” Kevin called him.

“I’m asleep. Go away.”

“Are you really asleep?” Kevin asked gently. “Or are you scared of being in a situation you don’t understand?”

Franco opened one eye.

“It’s okay to be scared when you’re confused about what’s happening.”

“It is?”

“Of course, it is.”

“Have you ever been scared?”

“Many, many times.”

“But you’re old. And a doctor.”

“Old doctors get scared too. I bet everyone in this room has been scared.”

“Why are there so many people?”

“Everyone here cares about you and wants to make sure you’re safe and healthy.”

“I can leave,” Bobbie offered. “Would you be more comfortable with fewer people in the room?”

“But who are _they?_” he whispered to Bobbie, indicating Scotty and Elizabeth. He didn’t want the nice nurse to leave.

“I’m your father,” Scotty announced. To hell with feeding any more of his kid’s messed up thoughts.

“Scott,” Kevin chastised.

“Well, I am.”

Franco was practically glaring at Scotty with a hatred that he had never seen before. “My father didn’t want me.”

“That is a lie.” His tone was even, but forceful.

“I’m _not_ lying!” Franco argued, trying to raise his raspy voice at the man.

“Let. Me. Finish.” Scotty cut off his son’s argument. “I didn’t mean _you_ were lying. I mean whoever told you that your father—_me_—that I didn’t want you lied to you. I didn’t know you even existed until… recently.”

“I don’t understand.” He looked stricken, almost like he was going to burst into tears.

“It’s complicated. Your mother never told me she had a baby. Heather—your real mother—is the one who let Betsy Frank take you and raise you. You were never legally adopted. You’ve been lied to _a lot_. By probably everyone you remember right now.”

“Where’s my mom?”

“Betsy isn’t here. It is not 1980-something. And you are not a kid anymore. You’re an adult and this beautiful woman is your wife, Elizabeth.”

Franco looked at Elizabeth with shock. “I think I’m confused.”

“That’s the first accurate thing you’ve said in a long time,” Scotty told him with a heavy sigh.

“Why are you mad? What did I do wrong?”

“I’m not mad. I’m frustrated because you’ve been through some stuff and we’ve been trying to get you back and now that you’re back, you don’t appear to remember most of your life.”

“Why am I even here?” Kevin sighed. Scotty had blown to pieces his attempt to help Bobby transition into the present day with minimal trauma.

“I don’t know, Kevin. Why _are_ you here?” Scotty snapped.

“You asked for me!”

“Scott,” Elizabeth said. “Let me talk to him.” She knew that if Scotty and Kevin started arguing, Franco would withdraw from the conversation.

“Hey, Fr—Bobby,” she caught herself. “Like your father said, I’m Elizabeth. You are confused. It’s November Twenty-nineteen.”

“Nineteen-what? What year is it?”

“It’s the year _two-thousand-nineteen_,” she clarified. She could tell from his expression that he was having a difficult time accepting how much time he could not account for. “I know that must seem overwhelming. How old do you _think_ you are?”

“Eleven. No, ten. Wait, I’m going to be eleven. But, no, if it’s November, I’m already eleven and I’m going to be twelve in March.”

“Remember when you said you were confused?” Elizabeth asked.

He nodded.

“You’re _really confused_,” She smiled sweetly. “But we’re going to fix that.”

“What happened?” he asked. “Why am I here?”

“Your brain is scrambled.” Scotty told him.

Scotty’s matter-of-fact tone intimidated Bobby. He sank into his pillow, as much as he could, his eyes were wide. He feared men in general, though he wasn’t sure why. He expected this man who claimed to be his father to punish him. Nothing that any of these people said made any sense.

“Don’t do that,” Scotty sighed.

Bobby’s eyes got even wider. He hadn’t said or done anything.

“Don’t look at me like you’re afraid of me.”

Bobby turned his head and closed his eyes. It wasn’t exactly the reaction that Scotty was hoping for.

“Maybe you should wait outside,” Kevin suggested.

Scotty muttered something about his kid being a naturally born smartass as Elizabeth pulled him to the door and out of the room.

“Some hiccup,” she said to her father-in-law.

“My patient is awake and alert?” Liesl inquired of them as she reached Franco’s room.

“He thinks he’s eleven or something,” Scotty told her, clearly disappointed.

Liesl was stricken with a feeling of failure, but only for a moment. “I should induce the coma again. His brain hasn’t healed. He thinks he’s Franco, correct? No more Drew Cain?”

“Well, he thinks he’s _Bobby_.” Elizabeth clarified. “But, you’re right. At least he doesn’t think he’s Drew.”

“Then, we are on the right track.” She entered her patient’s room with confidence. “Good morning, _mein Freund_,” she said to Franco. “Can you tell me your name?”

“Bobby Frank.”

“Very good,” she nodded her approval. “Well, Bobby Frank, I am Dr. Liesl Obrecht and I have been treating you. You are showing marked improvement, but you are not where you need to be just yet.”

“Treating me for what?” His question was voiced with timidity.

“You have experienced a severe brain injury.”

“What happened?” he asked. “I don’t remember.”

“Yes, I am aware.” She pursed her lips, considering what she should tell him. “You were hurt, and that incident dramatically altered your memory. I am trying to help you repair the damage.”

“Did some… one hurt me?”

“It’s very complicated and I do not wish to upset you.” She watched his reaction. “Clearly, that bridge has been crossed.”

“There was a bridge?”

She gave a small laugh. “I mean you are already upset, so my attempt to prevent that has failed. It is understandable. Losing your memory is very stressful.”

“But… I don’t feel like I’ve lost my memory.” He sighed. “I guess, if I had, I wouldn’t know it though, would I?”

“Ah,” Liesl smiled. “See, there is improvement. You understand that it’s possible that you would not know if you had amnesia. That shows rational and intelligent thought and I would expect that from you.”

“Is it really the year 2019?”

“It really is.”

“And she’s my wife?” He peered around Liesl to look at Elizabeth.

“Yes,” Elizabeth told him, moving closer.

He smiled, then covered his eyes, afraid to look at such a pretty lady and think that they were married. That was crazy. “Does that mean you love me?”

“You have no idea how much.”

“This is so weird.”

“You got that right,” Scotty muttered.

Liesl regained Franco’s attention. “Bobby, I need to give you some medicine that will make you sleep very deeply. It won’t hurt at all. And when you are asleep, I hope your brain injury will continue to heal so that you can remember all the things that are important to you in the year 2019.”

“How long will I be asleep?”

“Somewhere between thirty-five and forty years.”

Bobby saw a twinkle in his doctor’s eye, understood that she was joking, and laughed. “You’re funny.”

“See, I must get you better because you’re one of the few people on this earth who understands my sense of humor. Will you trust me to wake you up? I promise not to make you wait more than a few days.”

“Days?”

“It’s a complicated endeavor. You want to remember your wife and your dad, right?”

He frowned, thinking about sleeping for days. Then he looked at Elizabeth. Despite the hope he saw in her eyes, he realized she was very tired. It was reasonable that if he was in fact an adult and she was his wife that she had been spending a lot of time in the hospital. “Elizabeth,” Her name sounded strange coming from his mouth. He rarely talked to girls. Or boys. Or _anyone_, really.

“Yes?”

“I think you’re very pretty and I don’t want to hurt your feelings. But you look very tired. Will you also rest while I’m asleep?”

Elizabeth’s eyes filled with happy tears. Bobby’s concern for her was exactly the medicine she needed to know that _her_ Franco was somewhere in that jumbled up brain. She nodded. “I promise. I’ll be able to rest knowing that you’re getting better. And I will be here when you wake up.”


	4. Chapter 4

It was Elizabeth’s wedding day. Franco was late. The service was supposed to have started hours ago. But the earth had started shaking beneath her and Franco was nowhere to be found. Still, she knew he would come to her. He would always come to her. He must have gotten caught in the earthquake. But he would find her.

She waited. There was an aftershock and she felt herself falling to the floor, covered in a cloud of dust and debris. She knew Franco was buried under the rubble. She had to get to him. She crawled onto her knees and began lifting pieces of rock and wood. Her hands were bleeding, but she didn’t feel any pain. She called her husband—because that’s what he was. He was her _husband_ and he was _buried alive_. She had to dig until she could find him and take him home.

She heard his voice coming from far away. She got up and wandered through the wreckage of the church. Behind the sanctuary, she found a nursery. There was a light shining in the window and she heard a baby crying. She rushed to the baby and lifted him out of the bassinet. He was wearing pale blue clothing and she tried to comfort his cries. No one was around. Someone had abandoned the baby and he needed her. She sat in a nearby rocking chair and held him. Her hands were unblemished.

“Give him to me,” a man growled.

She screamed when she saw Jim Harvey reaching a decaying hand toward the infant. “Go away! Get away from him. Get away from me!”

“He’s mine,” Harvey continued to growl at her. “_He’ll always be mine_.”

“No, he’s _mine_!” she got up, holding the baby close to her chest. She kicked the living corpse in his shins and ran. She kept running even though Jim Harvey had fallen into the dust, becoming nothing but dust. She ran so hard that she didn’t see the obstacles at her feet, and she tripped. The baby went flying from her arms. She hit the ground with a thud, then got herself up. “Where are you?” she screamed. “Where are you?”

She heard Franco calling her again. She turned around and ran back toward the sanctuary. Only there was no church. There was a warehouse and a trail of blood. She followed the blood, panicked that Franco was bleeding somewhere in this monstrosity of a building. She found a discarded knife, still wet with blood.

“You can’t save him, Elizabeth.”

She turned and saw Kevin laughing at her. Only, it wasn’t Kevin. It was Ryan, wearing a straight jacket.

“I can’t get to you, but I got to _him_.” Ryan laughed and Elizabeth turned and ran in another direction. She was frantic when she heard the baby crying again. “Where are you?” she screamed, tears streaming from her eyes. The warehouse was dark, and it was cold.

“Don’t worry about him.”

David Henry Archer was holding the precious baby that she had dropped. She lunged toward him. “Give him back!” she screamed.

Somehow Shiloh seemed to be several feet taller than she was. He was holding the baby boy, her sweet baby boy, high above her head and she jumped and tried to reclaim him. “Don’t hurt my baby,” she begged. “Don’t hurt him. He’s just a baby. Take me instead.”

“No, take _me_.” Franco stepped out of the shadows.

He approached Shiloh. “Give me the kid.”

Shiloh was unphased. “You can take his place, but only one of you leaves here.”

“I understand,” Franco told Shiloh. “Give me the baby.”

Shiloh handed the baby over to Franco, who cradled him. “It’s okay, buddy,” he soothed the child. “You’re going to be okay.” Franco turned to Elizabeth and gave her the infant. “It’s better this way,” he promised. “He has his whole life ahead of him. You’re better off without me than without him.”

Elizabeth took the baby and held him close, but she wanted Franco too. “Don’t go!” she begged.

“I don’t want to leave you,” Franco told her, but Shiloh was leading him away as he spoke. “I love you. Don’t forget I love you. I’ll come back to you, Elizabeth. I’ll always come back to you.”

“No!” Elizabeth screamed. Her feet were unmovable. She held onto the baby and watched her husband willingly following that man who was going to take away his life. “Don’t hurt him!”

Elizabeth was sobbing in her sleep when she felt a hand shaking her gently. “Baby, wake up.”

She opened her eyes and saw her husband looking at her tenderly. “You’re having a bad dream.”

She took a deep breath. Then she started crying full force again, holding onto Franco like the survival of the entire world depended on their embrace. “You’re back,” she reminded herself. “You’re really back.”

“You were having a bad dream,” he told her. “I was downstairs and heard you screaming.”

“Downstairs?”

“Yeah, the kids had to go to school. And you needed to rest.”

Elizabeth shook her head. The normalcy of the whole situation was unnerving. She had become uncomfortably used to waking up alone, reaching for a man who wasn’t there. She caressed his cheek her hand. “You’re real. You’re here.”

“I’m so sorry for—”

“Stop it!” Elizabeth told him. “You _will not_ apologize one more time for saving Cameron’s life.”

“To be fair, that wasn’t the part I was going to apologize for,” his eyes twinkled with the spark of joy and humor that gave her a glimpse of her husband’s soul.

“My god, I love you so much,” Elizabeth said. She pulled Franco’s face toward hers and kissed him.

Liesl had brought him out of the induced coma the day before. When he opened his eyes, he was Franco again. Franco in 2019. Franco who was married and loved his wife and kids more than anything. Franco who had very vague and limited memories of the last few months, but who had fought with every fiber of his being to get back to his family. _Their_ family.

Liesl had been elated and, yet, smug about the success of the procedure—not toward Elizabeth, but toward Monica Quartermain and Andre Maddox who had claimed it couldn’t be done successfully. She informed Elizabeth that she would have a rough draft of her journal article for Elizabeth to read over and approve within a week. Elizabeth was stunned to learn she was going to be credited for her part in this groundbreaking work.

“You’re home. So, my nightmares are over. I’m counting on you to make sure every night of our lives is like last night.”

“That’s one of the reasons I was letting you sleep late,” he chuckled. Their reunion culminated in a night of passion that might have scarred the kids for life, particularly Cameron whose room was closest to theirs.

Elizabeth was still completely naked under the blankets. “So, the house is ours…?” she asked hoping he was up for some more physical activities.

Franco slipped the blankets from Elizabeth’s body, revealing her breasts and stomach. He put his head on her stomach. The last time they had made love before he lost his identity, she had been trim and toned in a way that made other women envious. There was the slightest little bump there now. “Is this real?” He wished that he could hold his ear close enough to his wife’s abdomen to hear the tiny heart beating. “We made a baby?” he asked.

She put her hand on his temple. “We made a baby,” she whispered. She had told no one else thus far. She was determined that no one would know until she could tell her husband, the father of this little miracle growing inside of her. It was easy enough to hide her symptoms by blaming her stress. No one suspected anything until Franco himself had felt her belly.

“That’s not the side effect of indulging in doughnuts, is it?” He had asked her, completely shocked.

“I only indulge in you,” she reminded him. And she reminded him again. And again.

“Thank you,” he told her. “Thank you for not giving up on me.”

“Thank you for fighting to get back to me. It must have been hell.”

“It was a matter of how bad I wanted it. How bad did Drew want it? Only one of us was going to survive in this body. I called dibs.” He shook his head, remembering the internal struggles. “Drew’s personality was so strong,” he told her. “I thought for a while that I was going to be barely clinging to life while he made all the decisions.”

She felt a chill and her exposed nipples grew taut.

As if he sensed her chill, Franco lifted his head and covered her with a blanket and sweetly kissed her neck. “You fought so hard for me,” he told her. “I don’t remember everything. In fact, I don’t remember most of it, but I remember knowing you wanted me back. I remember deciding I would undermine Drew so I could get to a place where _you_ could make my medical decisions. Fighting Drew was horrible. I mean, I love Drew, the Drew I knew as a kid and the Drew I knew as an adult.”

“It _was_ horrible,” Elizabeth agreed.

“And he’s gone,” Franco took a deep breath, weighed down with guilt.

“It’s not your fault,” Elizabeth reminded him. “Henry David Archer wanted the information on that flash drive, and he was willing to sacrifice Drew, Cameron, you, and anyone else who stood in his way. Drew might have been a jerk in 2012, but in 2019, he was an honorable man determined to make up for not being able to send Shiloh to prison years ago.”

“I wish I could… _tell him_.”

“Tell him what?” Elizabeth ran her fingers through Franco’s hair, now back to a longer length than the Drew identity wanted to keep it.

“I miss him. I loved him. He was my brother. He’s going to be an uncle. And he was an asshole for taking over my body like that.” He laughed. “I don’t blame Drew,” he added quickly.

“I know you don’t.”

“Is there a memorial?” He asked. He was devastated when Elizabeth broke the news to him that Drew was presumed dead.

“No,” Elizabeth answered. Thinking about it, she was surprised by that. “Maybe no one is ready to accept that he is really gone.”

“Maybe he’s not,” Franco told her.

“What do you mean?”

“You know that twin-connection thing people talk about?”

“Yeah.”

“Look, I know Drew wasn’t _really_ my twin. But… I _always_ knew he existed. I always knew he was out there somewhere. And then when I had the tumor removed, I sort of reluctantly chalked it up to a symptom, but Elizabeth, I _knew_ I had a brother. I still believe I have a brother. I believe that he’s alive and that he’s going to come home when he can. We found each other after a lot of years and we’re going to find each other again.”

“Keep believing that,” Elizabeth told him. She wanted him to hold onto hope. Port Charles was overflowing with people who had been presumed dead at one time or another.

“I would go looking for him, but I’m never leaving you again. Drew is smart and resourceful. Maybe I’ll tell Jason I think Drew is still alive and send him on a journey to find _his_ twin.”

“Mmm-hmm. You just better be glad you said _you_ aren’t leaving me again. Jason has the resources to look for Drew. He has the skill set.”

“But I have the connection. I can help him—from here in Port Charles. With you and the boys. And our baby.”

“I hope it’s a girl,” Elizabeth told him. “Would you be happy with a girl?”

“I would be delighted to have a daughter. Another daughter. Um, I know you just told me about the baby like twelve hours ago, but I was wondering… do you think we could use Lauren or Katherine in her name? I don’t know, maybe it’s weird to name one kid after another…”

Elizabeth was overjoyed. Not only was her husband back in their bed where he belonged, but he was already picking out names for their _maybe_ daughter. “I think they’re both lovely names.”

“Well, speaking of our baby, you have to have a nice, healthy breakfast. I was working on that when I heard you screaming. That must have been one hell of a nightmare.”

Elizabeth exhaled. “You know, it _was _pretty awful, but I don’t really remember much about it anymore. Dreams fade so quickly.” She hadn’t given further thought to her nightmare once she realized her husband was back with her and whatever unpleasantness there was had dissipated into nothingness.

“No more nightmares for you,” Franco told her. “Come downstairs with me. I have fresh fruit in the fridge, and I was gathering ingredients to make you nutrient dense omelet.”

“You’re going to be insufferably attentive to my pregnancy, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Yep. I got robbed out of being Groomzilla, so I’m going to be Expectant-Dad-Zilla. Is that a thing? It is now. It’s me.” He held up his arms like a T-Rex and growled at her playfully. “Oh, no!” he raised the octave of his voice. “I can’t reach my bride. How will I carry her down the stairs?”

Elizabeth laughed until tears were in her eyes. She had missed laughing in bed. _Her_ Franco was sweet and silly. “You’re going to be an amazing dad,” she told him. “You already are. The only good thing to come of this whole situation is that the boys all realize how important you are to our family and _so do all the people who tried to tell me to give up on you_.” She nearly spat the last part of her statement, seething at how people had treated her for fighting for her husband and her family.

“But we are going to celebrate with the people who had your back. And mine,” Franco reminded her. “Can we tell Pops and Liesl about the baby when they come over tonight?”

“You’re going to burst if you don’t tell someone, aren’t you?” she asked.

“Yes. Yes, I am.”

“Okay, Hubby-Zilla. We’ll tell Scotty and Liesl and the kids tonight. We should invite Laura and Kevin over soon too…”

“But not at the same time as Scotty,” they said in unison, falling into laughter.

Elizabeth watched Franco get out of bed to take her to her breakfast. Relief flooded over her because this nightmare was over. Their future held dreams waiting to be fulfilled.

\--End


End file.
